MORE than 70 experts, campaigners and trade unionists called on Labour today to end the scandal of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.
This type of open-ended jail term, branded “inhumane” by United Nations torture expert Alice Jill Edwards, was abolished in in 2012, but the decision was not retroactive, so thousands of people are still serving such sentences more than a decade later.
The coalition warned that many have been locked up indefinitely after being convicted of minor offences, highlighting the case of Ronnie Sinclair, a woman who served 15 years behind bars for smashing a flowerpot and ripping up a friend’s betting slips.
The coalition called for urgent reform in an open letter to the Ministry of Justice whose signatories include Amnesty International, the National Association of Probation Officers, the Prison Officers Association, the Howard League for Penal Reform, the Prison Reform Trust, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, United Group for Reform of IPP, Inquest and Global Rights Compliance.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer admitted that the prisons overcrowding crisis is “worse than I thought,” with the government looking set to free more inmates early.
He is expected to authorise emergency measures this week, which could see criminals automatically freed after serving 40 per cent of their sentence.
An announcement on what measures are to be taken is anticipated in the coming days.
Centre for Crime and Justice Studies director Richard Garside noted that Sir Keir had described prisons as “broken” last Saturday in his first press conference as Prime Minister.
“A practical first step in fixing the broken prison system would be for the government to do what it promised to do in opposition: to ‘work at pace’ to resolve the scandal of the IPP sentence,” added Mr Garside.
“As well as freeing up much-needed prison capacity, it would finally draw a line under a dreadful sentence that has been a stain on our justice system for far too long.”
The letter’s chief demand is to bring into force all the IPP-related provisions of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, including reducing the automatic termination period for IPP prisoners released on licence from 10 years to three.
The Ministry of Justice said: “The Lord Chancellor is committed to working with organisations and campaign groups to ensure the appropriate course of action is taken to support those still serving IPP sentences and will respond to this letter in due course.”
